


Information: Put Peter Pan in his Place!

by tatersalad5001



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Canon-Typical Violence, Game: Kingdom Hearts I, Gen, Kingdom Hearts I Spoilers, Role Reversal, Traverse Town (Kingdom Hearts), can you call it a role reversal if you're swapping up the roles of three characters? idc man, riku wakes up in traverse town instead of sora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: The island falls to the darkness invited by Riku himself. But when they wake up, Riku finds himself in Traverse Town, Sora on a pirate ship, and neither have any idea where Kairi is. Riku makes new friends while Sora discovers he wields a new power before being invited somewhere he’s never been that still seems familiar. Three friends try to reunite, but light and darkness cannot always coexist.“The Heartless surrounded you and tried to attack you, even in the 1st District,” Leon told Riku. “I’ve never seen them pursue someone so relentlessly. The only reason I can think of that they would do that is if you had the Keyblade. You said you’ve never heard of it, and I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but the Heartless didn’t start acting like this until you got here.”
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Information: Put Peter Pan in his Place!

**Author's Note:**

> I got an idea for a sort of Kingdom Hearts AU in my head, so I ended up starting to write it. It’s sort of a role swap, character swap sort of deal, but not a full one. Completely swapping roles here wasn’t interesting to me, so here’s the deal: the Keyblade still decides Riku is unworthy due to the darkness within him, so the power goes to Sora instead since he is decided to be the next best candidate. (Sora, however, didn’t summon the Keyblade before the island fell to darkness in this AU.) Kairi’s still a Princess of Light, and her heart ends up with Sora. But Riku ends up in Traverse Town instead of Sora. And Sora ends up in Neverland. He would end up in Hollow Bastion, but a lot of this AU’s energy is driven by Sora’s dreams of becoming a pirate (the name of the fic was originally my joke name for the AU but I never came up with anything better) and it’s not like it’s just like 1:1 Sora and Riku swapping places, either. Kairi’s still missing at the beginning of this, but she plays a part in the whole thing as well. You’ll see. 
> 
> I don’t have the energy to go super in depth into the whole thing, and I have no intention of hitting every world or anything like that. There’s not really much point in that. But I have a lot of important points in here I want to hit, so the important stuff will be here. I also have no plans or thoughts into how long chapters will be. It’s basically just gonna be each one will be however long I feel like writing it to be. Don’t expect every chapter to be the length of chapter one. Literally the only reason this is multichaptered is because I don’t want to write the whole thing at once and would rather work on other fics alongside this one, but since it will be multichaptered I’ll be writing things in a different order than my original plan was. I’m excited about the stuff that’s going to happen earlier now so this is not a bad thing lol
> 
> The very beginning of this here is Riku in Traverse Town (though we aren’t done with Traverse Town after this chapter). It’s important to me with this swap that the characters still have their original personalities as much as possoble, and remember, Riku still doesn’t have the Keyblade, either. This is very exposition-y and not as much is different here other than Riku minus the Keyblade taking Sora’s place here, but future chapters should divert a little more. Or at least, chapter two will follow Sora and it’ll divert pretty heavily compared to this chapter. Traverse Town just is always a good natural starting point and there’s things that need to be established. 
> 
> This is all a mouthful, but if you’re still here, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy this!! I keep daydreaming about this au while working and trying to sleep and stuff so I wanted to capture some of it in written form since maybe someone else out there might like it, too.

"Once we set sail, it'll be great."

"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

"The door has been opened."

"Sora..."

* * *

Something wet was touching his face. His face was wet. Something around him smelled awful.

Something slammed into his chest. Riku yelped in pain and opened his eyes. A yellow dog was in front of him. It took its paws off from him, quickly confirming the dog was the one who woke Riku up. It licked his face once again. That must be why his face was wet. That bad smell was probably from the dog, too. Riku had nothing against dogs, but dog breath could stink.

The dog turned away from Riku. Riku reached his hand out towards it, but the dog ran away before he could make contact. Riku's hand fell back towards the ground. The...solid hard ground. The last Riku remembered, he was...on the beach. This wasn't sand. Where was he?

Riku looked around. He was in some kind of unfamiliar alleyway. 

So, it worked out after all. He wasn't home anymore. He'd made it to another world. But he was all alone here. Kairi and Sora were supposed to come with him, they were supposed to be here too, so where were they? Riku left this dead-end path and tried to find some center part of this town, but he couldn't see either of them.

He took a deep breath. They were probably still close by, right? He could find them.

It didn't look like there were many people in this town, actually. That, or most of the people here were hiding away for some reason. He didn't bother trying to figure out which was true, because he didn't really care right now. That wasn't important, not as much as finding his friends. He did ask around for other information, though. 

From what he could tell, he was in a place called Traverse Town. Most of the town seemed to be overrun by creatures everyone described to him like monsters. Where he was, in this are called the 1st District, however, everyone was safe. The creatures did not come here. And everyone he asked about Traverse Town told him the same thing: this is where people ended up after losing their worlds to darkness.

So by opening the door, he really did make it to another world...

His friends were still the most important subject. So, everyone he met, Riku also asked about his friends. If he made it here, Sora and Kairi must be here as well. But after describing them both, no one had seen them in the town. He was told not to give up hope, since they would likely arrive in town sooner or later, but his anxieities weren't eased any.

He missed them already.

There was a possibility that when the islands were overtaken by darkness, Sora and Kairi were lost with their home, but Riku accepted that possibilitiy. There was no way those two would go down like that without a fight; Riku wouldn't have opened the door otherwise. He was too afraid of losing them. ~~He'd been afraid that he already was~~. So like the people in this town said, he probably just got here first. They would probably show up soon.

But what if they didn't show up in the 1st District? Those creatures took over the rest of the town. They'd need help.

Now that the thought had entered his head, he couldn't get it out. He was too worried, he had to go look for them. Riku bit his cheek and ran down the path someone had pointed out to him as the way to the next district. A large door separated the two districts, and Riku shoved it open.

He was immediately surrounded by these creatures. He still had his wooden sword with him, and he was the best fighter on the islands. He wasn't scared. With a yell, Riku swung his sword at the nearest one.

The sword seemed to phase through the creature, as if the sword didn't exist. The creature swiped at Riku with its claws. The attack left a nasty wound that hurt badly. Glancing around, Riku saw these creatures were everywhere. 

He was more than a little scared now. If he couldn't protect himself, he had no chance of protecting Sora and Kairi if they were here.

There was no other choice to be made. He turned around and fled back to the 1st District. He ran through the big door and made sure it was shut tight behind him before stopping. Good. He should be safe now.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, more of those creatures appeared around him. Wasn't this district supposed to be safe? Panicked, Riku ran into a nearby building and shoved the door shut behind him. The shopkeeper wasn't thrilled, but the creatures didn't follow Riku in, no creatures appeared around him this time, and the shopkeeper decided not to throw Riku back out to the creatures again. (That'd been an option?) The shopkeeper quickly noticed Riku was injured, and they patched Riku up as well as giving him a potion to drink (on the house) as Riku described his friends to them. The shopkeeper hadn't seen Riku's friends, but the two of them hid together until it was safe, the shopkeeper keeping watch at a window.

Many minutes later, the door to the shop opened once more, making Riku jump.

He wasn't the only one. "Dangit, you two! Can't either of you knock first?!" the shopkeeper demanded. "Thought the Heartless were breaking in." They were yelling at two people now entering the shop.

"Sorry, Cid," the shorter one giggled. "We'll try to remember that for next time."

"See to it that you do," Cid grumbled. "I got a guest here, I let him hide from the Heartless, bandage him up, give him a free potion, and everything, and you embarrass me in front of him."

The taller person ignored him. "We've cleaned out all the Heartless in the 1st District. They've stopped showing up here again."

"Sounds like we're safe, then," Cid said. "For now, anyway. Good work, you two."

The shorter person shrugged. "You said you had a guest." They looked around and, for the first time, seemed to see Riku. "You're a new face around Traverse Town. I'm Yuffie, and this is Leon. What's--"

"Hold on, Yuffie, slow down," Leon interrupted. "He seems injured. Did the Heartless do that to you?"

"I..." Riku stared at all the people around him, then down at his injury, on his stomach. It was mostly healed now, thanks to Cid's potion and other help, but he still felt freaked out about everything. Who were these people? What was going on? "I don't understand. What's heartless?"

"Cid said he 'let' you hide in his shop here from the creatures that were outside, right?" Yuffied clarified. "Did they hurt you?"

Riku nodded and did his best to explain what happened to him. In return, Yuffie, Cid, and Leon shared information with him. Those creatures that appeared outside and in the 2nd District were called Heartless; they were created when someone lost their heart to darkness. 

"I tried to fight them off, too." Riku showed everyone his wooden sword. He didn't want these people that he was weak and would need to be saved by them all the time. He wasn't a damsel in distress. "I'm not defenseless. But it didn't..."

"It's not just you," Yuffie told him. "You'd have to be really powerful to be able to fight the Heartless with a weapon like that."

"There's a weapon that can destroy them easily, even if you have little fighting existence, but if you're extremely strong or have a powerful weapon or magic, you can fight back against them." Leon seemed to be mulling something over in his mind. "Are you sure this is the only weapon you have?"

"Are you serious?" Cid turned to Leon. "You really think..."

"The Heartless surrounded you and attacked you, even in the 1st District," Leon said. "I've never seen them pursue someone so relentlessly. The only reason I can think of that they would is if the weapon they're afraid of-- the most effective weapon against them that exists-- was around. But no one here has had it, so if it were in Traverse Town now, its wielder would have to be someone new here. Like you."

Riku sighed. "I wish I had any kind of better weapon than this toy. But I don't even know what weapon is capable of something like that. There's no way I have it."

"It's called the Keyblade. Ever heard of it?" Yuffie asked.

Its name sounded familiar, but Riku shook his head. He had no idea what it was, knew nothing about it. "No. Sorry."

"I'm not saying I don't believe you, but..." Leon hesitated. "It seems like the Heartless reacted to your presence in this town, especially in the 2nd District. You'll have to be careful, at least until we know what happened. There's no way you can go back to the other districts, especially not now."

"What?! But what about my friends? I have to keep looking for them. What if they show up in a different district?"

"Not eeryone in worlds lost to darkness show up in Traverse Town. I don't know where they go instead, but anyone who arries in Traverse Town arries in the 1st District. Your friends will be safe."

Riku couldn't listen to Yuffie's words. "Do they?" he challenged. "Or does everyone else get taken down by the Heartless before you know about them?"

"We patrol the other districts regularly just in case. If there were others, we would know about them."

Riku ignored Leon. He pushed himself to his feet. "I have to look for my friends."

Cid had let Yuffie and Leon do most of the talking, but now he spoke up. "Kid, it's not gonna do your friends any good to get yourself killed out there!" But it was too late. Riku was already out the door. He just couldn't trust these strangers with the lives of his friends, no matter how nice they were being to him or how much they had just helped him. Kairi and Sora were different.

Riku ran into the 2nd District again immediately. Now that he knew what these heartless things were, they weren't so scary. He didn't need to try to fight them, he just had to look for his friends. He ran around them and through them. The town was huge. The 2nd District had so many buildings to search inside, and there were still an alley and a 3rd District. No way a couple people could be successfully patrolling the whole town constantly for any newcomers. Riku didn't find anyone in the 2nd District nor they alley, but that still left the 3rd District. Sora or Kairi could need him right now.

He did find someone in the 3rd District. But it wasn't Kairi. Wasn't Sora, either. Riku hadn't been in the district for more than a couple of moments before two people fell out of the sky and landed on him. Two people who turned out to be a duck and a dog. Other worlds were weird. Turned out their names were Donld and Goofy, respectively, though Riku wouldn't learned their names until later. A giant Heartless appeared in front of them before they could introduce themselves. Goofy and Donald immediately got up to fight it. Together the duo was able to hit the Heartless and hit it hard, but it was all Riku could do to stay out of their way. There was nothing he could do to help them.

Riku wasn't sure when Yuffie made it to the 3rd District, but she made the finishing blow, destroying the Heartless.

”Whoa, that one was huge!” She grinned at Donald and Goofy. “You guys are awesome!” Then she caught sight of Riku. “There you are! Dude, you can’t run off like that, especially when you already _know_ you can’t protect yourself out here.”

”Yeah,” Riku said, approaching the group now that the danger was gone. He still wasn’t going to apologize for something he wasn’t sorry for. 

“Wait, slow down, back up.” Donald looked between Yuffie and Riku. You know each other?”

”This is Riku.” Yuffie pointed her thumb in Riku’s direction. “He’s new here in town. And he knows it’s not safe outside outside the 1st District, but he came out here anyway. I’m just catching up to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

”I’m Riku.” He waved awkwardly at Goofy and Donald. “I was told it wasn’t safe outside the 1st District, but I came out here anyway.” What else was he going to do, deny Yuffie’s accusation? It was true. He wasn’t afraid to admit it. “I’m looking for my friends.” He described his friends, but still, no one had seen them.

”You lost your friends? Gawrsh, that’s a shame,” Goofy said. “I mean, we’re looking for the King, but if I lost Donald, here, I don’t know what I’d—“

”Oh, don’t get all sentimental on me.” Donald rolled his eyes. “Speaking of the King, we really do need to keep looking for him. Clearly he’s not here, so—“

”You should take Riku with you!”

”What?” Riku and Donald asked at the same time, both caught of guard by Yuffie’s suggestion. The two looked at each other with a frown.

”You’re both looking for your friends, right?” Yuffie asked. “You can look together, help each other out! You never know, maybe they’re all together, too!”

”I have my doubts about that,” Donald muttered.”

”Okay, then.” Yuffie turned to Donald, a hand on her hip. “How about this? Aerith told me and Leon about what you told her when you first got here. The key you’re looking for, right?”

”Yup!” Goofy looked closely at Riku. “You wouldn’t happen to have a key, would you? We’re kinda looking for one.”

What was with everyone’s obsessions with keys? Riku took a step back. “I don’t even have a house key.”

”That seems to be the case,” Yuffie agreed. “But, you must’ve noticed the Heartless have been extra riled up, right? I’m not even sure that this big one would’ve showed up otherwise. That didn’t happen until after Riku arrived and started running off into the other districts. And the only thing that would spark that kind of reaction...”

“Huh,” Goofy said. “So you think he may be...”

”He might!” Yuffied said.

”May be what?” Riku asked.

Donald faced Riku with a hop. “You could have some sort of Keyblade connection. I have no idea how, but... Before our King disappeared, he told us to look for a ‘key’. Maybe it’s you, or maybe you can help us find it. It could be one of your friends. So she’s right. We should help each other out.”

”I can look for my friends fine on my own, thanks,” Riku told him.

”Yeah, in this world. But what if they’re in another world? You can’t leave this world by yourself, can you?” Donald asked.

”You can?”

”Yep, in the Gummi Ship!” Goofy replied. “So we should help us out. We can help you look for your friends in other worlds, and you can help us figure out this ‘key’ stuff.”

That changed things. “Sounds like we have a deal.”

Donald Duck held his hand out towards Riku. “Donald Duck.”

Goofy put his hand on top of Donald’s. “And I’m Goofy.”

They looked at Riku, waiting for him to join in. Riku rolled his eyes, but with a smile he put his hand on top of Goofy’s. “Riku.”

Accepting help felt like admitting he was too weak to take care of his friends on his own, but he had no choice. But these two seemed to kind of be goofballs, like Sora and Kairi. Maybe the three of them could get along after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This AU definitely is inspired a lot by archetwist and the archetwist AU is inactive but BUT it’s really really good so please check it out anyway: https://archetwistau.tumblr.com/


End file.
